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America’s Youngest Outcasts documents the number of homeless children in every state, their well-being, their risk for child homelessness, and state level planning and policy efforts. Using findings from numerous sources that include well-established national data sets as well as our own research, we rank the states in four domains, and then develop a composite of these domains to rank the states from 1 (best) to 50 (worst). A page about the District of Columbia is also available.

More than 1.6 million children or one in 45 are homeless annually in America—according to a new report released today by The National Center on Family Homelessness. This represents an increase of 38% during the years impacted by the economic recession (2007 to 2010). The 124- page report, America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010, ranks the 50 states from best (1) to worst (50) and offers specific policy solutions.

The report, which updates a previous study by The National Center, looks at trends in child homeless from 2006 to 2010 using data and research on the extent of child homelessness, child well-being, risk for homelessness, and state policy and planning efforts. Data from the original report showed that more than one in 50 children were homeless annually in America. That dropped to one in 63 in the recovery from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and has increased since.

Among industrialized nations, the United States has the largest number of homeless women and children. Not since the Great Depression have so many families been without homes. The statistics below are the best estimates of the extent of homelessness, but it is important to note that they are undercounts.

Homeless families comprise roughly 1/3 of the total homeless population.

Approximately 1.5 million children will experience homelessness over the course of a year. In any given day, researchers estimate that more than 200,000 children have no place to live.

People counted in the single adult homeless population (about 2.3-3.5 million annually) are also part of families:

Among all homeless women, 60% have children under age 18, but only 65% of them live with at least one of these children.

Among all homeless men, 41% have children under age 18, but only 7% live with at least one of their own children.